The Battle of Earth: True Heros and Patriots
by jamiecreswell
Summary: The Covenant discovers humanity in the year 2018. Told from both sides, this story follows the tale of many men and women of different occupations and countries and what they will have to give up to give humanity the smallest chance of survival. But will it be enough?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Satellites and first contact

Date: April 2nd , 2018 7:45 PM

One hundred and forty six Covenant warships with the CAS class assault carrier _EXECUTION OF THE DISOBEDIENT _acting as the flagship (5,346 metres in length) exited from slipspace approximately four hundred and eighty one thousand miles behind the moon. The remaining one hundred and forty five ships were named as CSS class battle cruisers (1,782 metres in length). Each craft's outer skin was metal, smooth and coloured a deep, rich purple. The smaller ships all surrounded the _EXECUTION OF THE DISOBEDIENT _maintaining a tight pattern, two thirds of the fleet positioned in front of the flagship while the remaining ones were stationed behind it. Each ship had at least twenty miles of space from its nearest fellow, ensuring that the chances of an accidently collision were at the minimal. Although it didn't look like it at all, each ship was armed to the teeth with weapons ranging from plasma torpedos, pulse laser turrets and energy projectors. Aside from the fleet's weapons, each ship was crammed with smaller fighter craft, vehicles, and crew as well as a gigantic invasion force, equalling a little over a billion personal.

Unlike most fictional aliens, these REAL ones logically built their bridges deep inside the body of their crafts instead of the front, providing the bridge crew excellent protection from enemy fire. Inside a certain bridge stood a towering creature with folded arms. Over eight feet tall and resembling an ugly gorilla covered in facial scars with muscles threatening to burst open its skin with black armour and a helmet that added an extra ten inches to its height. Covering its ten, hairy fingers which each had the width of a human wrist were gloves that the alien had made from skin that had been carved from the body of its father. Also imbedded in each knuckle of the gloves were real teeth, also from its father. Attached to a harness on its back was its primary weapon; a seven foot tall hammer with long sized handle. The metal on the end was rectangle shaped and covered in needle like spikes. Its rank in the attack force was the second highest in the fleet; fleetmaster which was the alien equivalent of a human admiral. A second rank it held was chieftain of its clan, a title Gortaurus held with pride.

Forty of Gortaurus' kind, all shorter and wearing blue or gold armour manned various positions around the bridge, some seated and observing radar screens, others delivering data and information to others while twelve stood proudly guarding the three automatic sliding doors that led to the observation deck. Most Jiralhanae (the name of his species) fleetmasters would leave manning of the ships in their fleets to the lowly Unggoy or even the Kig-Yar. To Gortaurus however, the only crew that were worthy of being in his presence and flying his ship was his own kind. Eighteen times since his fleet had left he had squashed a lone Unggoy with his hammer for entering the bridge without permission. Their high pitched screams and pleads for mercy always falling on deaf ears, revealing them for the short, stocky, pathetic cowards they truly were. In Gortaurus' opinion, the three holy Prophets (the three leaders who ruled their great Covenant should have exterminated the Unggoy the minute their gas breathing kind was discovered and cleanse the universe of their stupid presence. Their forced addition to the Covenant only served to weaken it. Other than to use as suicide bombers and cannon fodder, they had no place! They were vermin!

Meanwhile, as for the other species that served the Holy Covenant Gortaurus had mixed views or opinions for them.

The Sangheili (slightly shorter than the Jiralhanae with double jointed legs, hairless, hunched heads, mouths equipped with four mandibles) were hated by most of his kind for their code of honour. Gortaurus however actually admired them for their fighting skills and wasn't afraid to let others know. Another reason why that was that the Jiralhanae fleetmaster liked a challenge and the Sangheili provided him one. He often challenged Sangheili to wrestling matches (which he always won) and shooting contests. Jiralhanae and Sangheili weren't often put together for fear of their rivalry turning into blood feuds, however Gortaurus had permitted a little under a million Sangheili to serve in his fleet, referring to them as equals, encouraging other Jiralhanae to do the same. Twice, he had ordered the execution of a Jiralhanae who had murdered a Sangheili. As a result, Gortaurus had overheard that the Sangheili who served on his ship actually respected him to some small level.

The Kig-Yar (roughly five foot five feet tall, light, bearing a resemblance to an overgrown, flightless, birds of prey) were a species that Gortaurus looked down upon almost as much as the Unggoy. They often referred taking up sniping roles a safe distance away. The Kig-Yar's bird like movements were strange and annoying to many Jiralhanae and Jiralhanae had extremely short tempers. Twenty years ago during the Taming of the Hunters Gortaurus had been a minor soldier fighting tooth and nail to stay alongside his kind. Afterwards, he had returned to the battlefield with two pack mates to discover five Kig-Yar actually salvaging and consuming meat gathered from both the enemy bodies and the Covenant's dead. Although Jiralhanae occasionally ate dead bodies that used to be enemy soldiers they had slain in battle they never ate their own friends and brothers! Gortaurus and his friends had quickly and efficiently beaten the disgusting vultures a metre into the ground for their behaviour.

The Mgalekgolo (twelve foot tall armoured giants covered from head to toe in thick blue armour provided by the Sangheili carrying a cannon that fires nuclear fuel rods in one arm and a gigantic reinforced shield capable of crushing opponents and deflecting plasma fire in the other. Their heads were small and had dozens of long, thin, pointy quells sticking from their backs) were creatures that Gortaurus as well as the entire Covenant often wondered about. They rarely spoke with other species and kept to themselves. Gortaurus understood that each Mgalekgolo had a bond brother that they fought alongside each other in pairs and never separated. The Mgalekgolo was a species that Gortaurus respected for their courage and raw stamina.

Gortaurus frowned as he went over why he was here. A month ago, he had been summoned by the three holy Prophets of the Covenant Salvation, Generosity and Dependence to be briefed of a situation.

Flashback

Gortaurus bowed before the three messengers of the gods aboard the Covenant capital city High Charity. The weak, frail aliens stood in levitating chairs in a circle shaped room. Their style of dress was made comprised of white robes and headdresses. Salvation floated in the middle with the other two prophets sitting to his left and right. Twelve Sangheili honour guards armed with pikes stood in two straight lines, one on either side of the Jiralhanae Fleetmaster.

"Rise Fleetmaster," Ordered Salvation, waving his hand in a lazy motion.

Gortaurus did so, lowering his head slightly as a sign of respect. Still he towered over the Prophets.

"There is a situation that has caught our attention," Salvation paused for dramatic effect, "the Huragok have translated some Forerunner artefacts and have discovered something of great importance to the Great Journey. These artefacts speak of a new Forerunner settlement that has not been discovered yet. They built it as a safe haven to protect their legacy from something that we have been able to identify from the writings. It also speaks of a teleportation device that is capable of sending any living being to and from a specific location," Salvation paused for several seconds before speaking," The Ark."

Gortaurus, forgetting the guards and his manners, snapped his head up and roared "WHAT!"

The Sangheili guards would have under normal circumstances taken this as an excuse to poke the Jiralhanae with their pikes. In THIS case, most of them just dropped their pikes in shock and excitement.

"Yes the Ark," Salvation confirmed, annoyed at the Jiralhanae's outburst. "As you are well aware the Ark was created also by the Forerunners. The Ark is linked to all of the Halo rings and is capable for firing all of the rings at once. Doing this will ensure the great journey for the greater good of the Covenant."

"However there is a dilemma," this time it was Dependence who spoke, "according to the translations the settlement is buried a mile underground the surface of a planet that we have not found references of any kind in any of our records. However the gods smile upon us as the translations provide the location exactly where this planet is and descriptions of the local landscape surrounding the area where the settlement was buried."

"So we all we need to do to find this device is to launch a ground force to secure the planet and dig up the settlement." Gortaurus finished.

"Correct Fleetmaster" Generosity nodded, "given your past experience you are a perfect candidate to lead the fleet. In addition your flagship and fleet do not fit the requiring standards so we have decided to provide your fleet with an extra eighty CSS class battle cruisers."

Gortaurus frowned.

"Thank you, but with all due respect my fleet is capable of performing this task at only half strength. I do not see why I would need more ships when I already have enough to complete this task."

Salvation's lip curled.

"Guards, Dependence, Generosity leave us! I wish to speak with the Jiralhanae alone now." Gortaurus couldn't help but notice a dark glint in the prophet's eyes and the non use of his title.

The Sangheili honour guards bowed and left, carrying their pikes in two hands. They filed out of the room in rows of two. The other two prophets looked angered at being ordered away but did nevertheless. Their floating chairs carried their forms from the room, two of the guards closing the door behind them. The second the doors boomed shut Salvation resumed speaking.

"The reason why I decided to choose you was for your faith in the great journey and you're willing to make sure it comes to light through any means necessary. Generosity and Dependence still disagree with me. They both think the one who should lead this mission should be a Sangheili. But after I went through certain measures, they decided it was in their best interest to agree with me."

Gortaurus blinked. It was obvious that Salvation had actually threatened the other two prophets. Such a thing was unheard of.

"So if you ever question my decision again your punishment will be most severe. You are to report to me and me alone. Am I understood?"

"Perfectly."

"Good now this has been kept secret from the other two prophets. In the translations they spoke of a new intelligent species that was introduced by the Forerunners on the same planet they built the settlement on. There is a chance they still exist and are in possession of Forerunner technology. If this is so they will have found the settlement and if they have found the settlement they might have teleportation device and the Ark. You are allowed to try and establish peaceful communications with them if they actually exist. However, should they try to deny our researchers access to the settlement or try to hide it from us you have permission to wipe them out. All of them. No prisoners are to be taken under any circumstances. Do you have any questions?"

Gortaurus shook his head, "no sire." He had no problem with wiping out an entire species or killing innocent civilians. All that mattered to him was the completion of the task. His reputation was all that mattered to him.

End Flashback

One of Gortaurus' crew, a Jiralhanae wearing light blue armour turned from his console to address him, "Fleetmaster we are within visual range of the planet. Loading images now."

The Jiralhanae typed for several seconds and as a result the video screen popped to life showing a picture of a planet that intrigued Gortaurus. It was a decent sized planet, larger than most planets he had seen but it was by no means the largest. Dotted white patterns which Gortaurus identified as clouds hid roughly twenty per cent of the planet's surface from view. Underneath he could identify water and solid ground. Counting, he finished at seven different landmasses or continents and at least three oceans, one of which dwarfed the other two.

'Such size' Gortaurus thought. His crew were just as awed that so much of the planet was covered in water. One Jiralhanae spoke aloud, "I wonder what kind of life is underneath that water. They would make a good hunt and an even better feast." The other Jiralhanae roared in agreement, including Gortaurus. After several seconds, the Fleetmaster shouted for their silence and they ceased their jaws.

"Minor, do a scan of the planet. Is there any sign of Forerunner activity?"

"Negative Fleetmaster there's some of inference. It's blocking my scanners. I can only hear and see static", an annoyed Jiralhanae minor replied. Gortaurus asked the same from the others and got the same annoyed grumbles. Few Jiralhanae had the patience to learn how to operate a computer and those who did were known to sometimes put their fists through the screens when it didn't work the way they wanted it to. A pair of the bridge crew was currently in the process of tearing their consoles from the wall to be taken down and given to the Unggoy tech experts for repairs in response to several fist sized holes imbedded in the screen.

"Sir wait I got something!" a Jiralhanae crew member shouted, excited who had been seconds from putting a fist through his own console. Gortaurus quickly ran down to stand behind the minor who was typing at a frenzied pace. "It is it? Is it the settlement! Damn tell me something!"

"No sir it's not Forerunner. Scans indicate it's a station of some sort. Bringing up a visual image now." The picture of the planet disappeared to be replaced by the space post. It was unlike anything Gortaurus had ever seen. It roughly a few hundred meters in diameter, resembling a squire white box with two flat black and white rectangles mounted facing outwards. Gortaurus recognised the rectangles as a somewhat primitive power panel. Gortaurus snorted. 'If this was how advanced this species is than crushing them won't be a problem.'

"Is it transmitting?" Gortaurus asked the minor, thinking of the similarity between this and hunting on his home world. Follow the trail to find the food.

"Yes Fleetmaster. It's coming from the planet."

"Trace it now."

"Already am."

The minor resumed typing. As he typed, the screen zoomed in on the planet from one of the many hidden spy cameras mounted on the _EXECUTION OF THE DISOBEDIENT_. The screen continued to fly closer, locking onto a tiny island. It zoomed again, showing a dark patch of forests except for a small grassy area where the trees had been moved. The minor targeted that; a bird's eye view of a grey metal rectangle shaped settlement roughly a kilometre in length and one third a kilometre in width. To the bases north stood three circle shaped satellites panels.

"It's clearly a warning system of some sort. The locals clearly created it to transmit images of space from the ugly box down to those satellites. The base is properly where the soldiers are stationed as seeing it would be stupid to leave it undefended."

Gortaurus frowned as he thought this over. "Could they have detected us when we exited slipspace?" If they did than they had just lost the element of surprise. Gortaurus didn't want to have made a mistake already.

"I can't be certain sir. We have no idea how advanced their technology is so it's near impossible to be certain. If we captured some and the techs analyse it we could learn a lot about them."

"Alright inform the fleet. Send down three Phantoms. I also want them escorted by a fighter escort of a squad of Banshees to provide protection and air support if the recon team need it."

"Recon team sir?"

"Yes they'll land the Phantoms down and the team will spread out, track down and destroy this base. Any of these new species interfere with the operation and they'll be shot for denying us access. We need information on the location of the settlement and these new creatures will not interfere. I want the first two Phantoms loaded with a mix of the others; Sangheili, Mgalekgolo, Unggoy and Kig-Yar. They'll stay airbone and only land if the last one needs reinforcements. I want the last transport filed with my pack. I'll lead this operation."

...

Date: April 2nd, 2018 9:58 PM

Gortaurus stood proudly as he marched into the hanger bay. In addition to what he had on the bridge, he wore a large leather harness attached to a harness which carried a two foot skinning knife. He still had his hammer slung over his back but he carried a different weapon in his arms. A carbine rifle. Excellent at long range but horrible at close (that's why he was bringing his hammer). Limited ammunition but powerful and besides he rarely ever missed.

Hundreds of Unggoy stood in the bay attending to the fifteen aircraft that would play part in the operation. Gortaurus spotted twelve Jiralhanae pilots bossing around the Unggoy meant to keep their Banshees in top order, the Unggoy grumbling and swearing in high pitched voices. The sight amused Gortaurus.

Over near a battered and beaten Phantom which had flown Gortaurus down into battle many times was his pack. All of them were shipmasters in his fleet and had many times like now temporarily left their posts so they could all participate in the attack. All were well respected Jiralhanae, their faces covered in scars and their armour beaten and torn. There were only seven of them but Gortaurus still preferred fighting alongside the warriors he had known his entire life than any army of thousands. All of them carried a mix of weapons; Jeremiao and Urglo carried a plasma rifle each, Hlogortus was armed with a pair of spikers, Mohawk and Nartourtus were packing carbines, Stomplaw had a brute shot while Diego was wielding a fuel rod cannon. All were eager and Gortaurus knew it. There was a battle coming and a new enemy to test their worth against.

None of them would miss the opportunity.

...

NASA deep space satellite facility (involvement classified) National Guard barracks, Hawaii

Date: April 2nd, 2018 7:59 PM

Captain Benjamin 'Benny' Ramirez felt the weight of his armour lying down on him and rolled his head in a circling motion to ease the ache forming at the base of his neck. Despite his training and the knowledge he had to be a good influence for the other men and women in his squad he couldn't help but feel as bored as shit. He and a platoon of thirty eight fellow national guard soldiers had been stationed on the base for almost a month, replacing the previous bases guards. Ramirez and his troops still had another two weeks before they could pack up and head back to the ACTUAL National Guard barracks where at least they were allowed to go home every once in a godamn while. Here each soldier had to patrol the damn base twenty hours a day with limited rest where they were on a "need to know basis" every time they asked. Ramirez respected the rules set by NASA but even was starting to be get plain sick of it. Asides from the army personal, there were sixty men and women who worked for NASA; a bunch of space nerds dressed in suits and white lab coats running back and forth carrying clipboards. Also they had no respect for him and his troops whatsoever! One time a nerdy man with balding and glasses had asked one of his troops, a tall black woman with short braided hair named Rihanna to "to be a good girl and make his bed for him." Ramirez had heard everything and started towards the man but Rihanna got there first. Standing half a foot above him, the muscular woman swept her foot back and kicked the little shit in the dick before punching him right between the eyes, breaking his noise and glasses. The man had cried like a little wuss and promised to sue her for unprovoked assault, but his boss, a Doctor Noland Amos who actually treated his soldiers with respect had promised that no such thing would happen.

To the public, this was just an army weapons storage facility. The base was located several miles in the jungle so they attracted little attention, except for the occasionally news crew snooping for a story, claiming this was a base for held aliens. Ramirez and his squad had had a bit of fun arresting them for trespassing, but other than that were was nothing to do except stand in a line outside the barbed wire fence wielding M24 assault rifles and look menacing which was what he was doing right now by the way. There was a load cough as Conway inhaled the end of his cigar and breathed out. Ramirez smiled, at least some pain in the ass rules didn't exist here. He resisted the urge to pull out the pack of cigarettes he had smuggled in. He was trying to cut down on smoking, knowing of the eventually consequences if he didn't. 'Although I don't have to like it' he thought to himself as he stabbed an unlit cancer stick into his mouth.

...

Location: Classified

Date: December 13th, 2017 8:34 PM

Screams was all that could be heard as the crowd chanted for death and blood. Four stands and stages lights surrounded a single white platform surrounded by walls constructed of wire. The room was approximately twenty by fifteen metes in length. Three men stood in the ring, two against one, their fists and legs moving with enough force to shatter concrete. Two men with tanned skin were dressed in typical shorts worn by cage fighters. Their hair was long and both men's bodies were decorated with dozens of tattoos while their opponent was extremely muscular, pale skinned and was only wearing a pair of black jeans. His eyes were as black as night and a huge scar was wrapped across the left side of his head. He had hair but it was cut extremely short, originally brown but starting to grey. He was in his mid to late forties and the creases on his face showed it. Arguably his most noticeable feature was a tattoo stamped on his upper right arm; a jawless human skull mounted on a sword which was flanked by a pair of bird's wings. Surrounding the skull, sword and wings was a circle with following words aliened; TASK FORCE 141.

The crowds cheers turned to yells of anger as they saw the tables being turned on their two champions. The stranger was quickly dodging all of their blows and occasionally throwing in one of his own. Each punch never missed.

The stranger seemed to be somewhere else as he duelled the cage fighters. His face and eyes were showing no sign of emotion at all.

"_Do you have the DSM?"_

One boxer threw a punch at the strangers stomach. The man blocked it with an open palm while ducking under a high kick from the second boxer. He rose quickly, shoved the fist away and jumped, his right foot knocked with the first boxers face, breaking his nose. He swept his feet out from under the second boxer, felling him. The stranger jumped on his chest and delivered three brutal punches to his noise, eye, and forehead.

"_We got it sir!"_

The first boxer rose and leapt forward, intending to tackle the stranger. The man rolled underneath the flying boxers arms before rising to his feet. The stranger ducked under the boxers punch before grabbing and snapping the man's wrist. He shoved him against the cage and delivered two lighting fast slaps to the boxer's temples. The stranger felt strong arms pull him into a chokehold as the second boxer grabbed his neck. He whipped his head backwards, smacking against the second boxers head. The grip loosened. The stranger knelt and pulled his head forward, flipping the boxer over his head.

"_Good. That's one less loose end."_

The stranger delivered two brutal kicks to the boxer's stomach. The other boxer pushed himself off the fence and threw a weak fist at him. The stranger dodged and head butted the boxer before finishing him a bone shattering uppercut. The boxer collapsed, bruised and bloodied. Not wasting a second, the stranger blocked a knee jab from the remaining boxer. He swept his body in a spin, punching him twice across the cheek. The stranger jumped and kicked once, twice, thrice. Blood painted the floor. The boxer will and made no attempt to rise.

"_NO!"_

...

Ramirez didn't know what the time was, just that several hours had passed. Owls barked and frogs croaked continuously in the night. A full moon lilt the sky alongside dozens of white stars. Stargazing was something Ramirez loved to do all the time, which was why he decided to live in Hawaii. He made a note to conserve his cigarettes as he only had a half a pack yet as he felt the lightness in his pocket.

Suddenly sirens started to wail, threatening to burst eardrums if ignored. The soldiers snapped up their M24s in case of an attack. Ramirez jogged over the fence and waved to Edward and Sanderson who he had posted at the controls to the gate to open up. Edward typed into the keyboard and the barbed wire door slid open. Ramirez ran past the pair who took their place outside the fence. "Stay here I find out what's going on" he shouted. His troops including Rihanna, Conway, Sanderson and Edward split into two groups of six and at a medium pace began sweeping both corners outside the area of the fence.

Ramirez spotted Doctor Amos standing a dozen metres outside the barracks shouting at one of the other scientists. Dozens of scientists and soldiers were running back and forth, delivering information and reinforcing positions. Amos spotted Ramirez and waved him over. Ramirez ran over, "just what the hell is going on?"

"We've detected unknown contacts on the satellites. They appeared five minutes ago. There over a hundred of them then they locked onto our transmitting signal and blocked us out so we can't see nothing!" the Doctor was managing to remain calm unlike most of his lesser collages who looked ready to crap themselves in Ramirez's opinion."Then a minute ago three blimps appeared on the radar. We don't recognise them and they keep on flicking on and off. I know this sounds crazy as but I think we've got a first contact scenario on our h . . . . ."

The Barracks blew up.

...

"Perfect." Gortaurus complimented. Their Phantom dropship was hovering twenty metres above the ground. As planned, their Phantom had slipped without detection past the creatures defences when then Gortaurus and his pack mates had dropped over a half dozen crates of plasma grenades and fuel right on top of the barracks. The resulting explosion consumed the northern half of the compound and left the southern side covered in smoke and melting metal as the plasma ate its way through. Gortaurus snorted in amusement as he watched the animals wearing clothes running everywhere and they hadn't even noticed their presence yet. 'Pathetic' thought as he loaded his carbine. Flicking off the safety, he started his shields up and jumped off the Phantom. Just as he was about hit the ground he engaged his jetpack, stopping his descent less an a metre above the ground. Disengaging his jetpack, Gortaurus roared in greeting as the seven other Jiralhanae landed besides him, cushioning their falls using their own packs.

That was when the humans finally noticed them

**Hey Everybody thank for taking the time to read my fic. HOWEVER , I just love reading reviews for my stories so I want at least fifteen before I began working on chapter two. By the way Ghost is the only character from Call Of Duty making an appearance in this fic so just consider it a Halo fanfiction story. And despite the fact this fiction takes place over 500 years before Halo the Covenant in this story have the same weapons, vehicles and species at the time of the game Halo.**


	2. Chapter two: Skirmish of Hawaii part I

Chapter two: Skirmish of Hawaii part I

**First of all I realise that asking for 15 was a bit much. Chapter two is ready to go. The next few chapters detail the Covenant launching invasions on other countries and how the US government and the United Nations respond to it. Also this fiction has incorporated ideas from other alien and action movies such as Independence Day, Battleship, War of the Worlds and Transformers 3: The Dark side of the Moon. Ghost is both a main character and at the same time minor a background character that helps out from the shadows since he's supposed to be dead. Oh and by the way my thanks to ****random guy 205**** for the suggestion on applying Talos liquid armour to soldiers cause I will surly use the suggestion but only later in the story as it would take the government time to create the armour in response to the Covenant. Also I have a wicked idea of what force will wear it. Stay loyal and keep reading to find out. **

. . .

NASA deep space satellite facility (involvement classified) National Guard barracks, Hawaii

Date: April 2nd, 2018 11:57 PM

Gortaurus and his pack quickly surveyed their surroundings; dozens of humans were staring at them, some pointing black rifles at them. These small creatures, only slightly taller than Kig-Yar outnumbered his pack roughly ten to one, including the ones who did not carry weapons. They were all terrified and the Jiralhanae could smell it on them. 'Good', Gortaurus thought, 'they should be afraid.' He was SO going to enjoy this.

"Attack! Grind their bones beneath your feet!"

The Jiralhanae pack roared and attacked; charging while shooting their weapons into the mob of humans. Scientists screamed and fled only to fall as molten plasma tore through their bodies. The soldiers quickly returned fire only for their bullets to reflect off the Jiralhanae's armour and plasma shields. Meanwhile, other soldiers began bringing out barricades and heavy weapons such as machine guns

The air surrounding Gortaurus flashed purple as his shields reflected what he realised were projectiles fired from of the soldier's weapons. 'Interesting their technology shows no sign of Forerunner assimilation. Perhaps these primitive haven't found the settlement yet.' Gortaurus spotted the one who had shoot at him and quickly returned the favour; a single carbine shoot punctured the soldier's skull and blew out his brains behind him in a gruesome spray of gore and brain matter, his helmet offering no protection whatsoever. 'Time to initiate phase two,' Gortaurus curled his lip upwards in a feral grin.

Gortaurus turned his attention to Jeremiao and shouted to get his attention. The Jiralhanae was in the process of arming a plasma grenade. With a roar he threw the bomb and it exploded against a parked military Humvee. The explosion killed the soldier manning the fifty calibre and flipped the vehicle over, crushing more soldiers underneath it. The remaining National Guard troopers fell back to the cover of the barracks, some firing over their backs others carrying injured friends, the few surviving scientists had already fled inside. Gortaurus' pack chased after the survivors, laughing and howling as their plasma bolts cut deep holes into the human's numbers.

Gortaurus' shout reached Jeremiao's ears and he nodded. He remembered clearly what to do next; breach the building, find any computers or terminals and download any information he could get. They were here for information and they weren't leaving until they got what they came for. Jeremiao fiddled with the controls and he instantly became invisible or better described as blending in to his surroundings, similer to a chameleons camouflage. If anyone looked down they would had noticed his gigantic shadow. Running around the side between the fence and the barracks away from the firefight, Jeremiao spotted two soldiers standing guard the back door which was made of reinforced titanium.

Drawing his dagger, Jeremiao slit the throat of one, its blood washing the grass. The second soldier turned to face him, thrusting its rifle outwards. Jeremiao simply step sided the blow, grabbed the M24 with his left and punched the soldier once in the face with his right. The soldier dropped without a sound, its face squashed. Jeremiao snorted in annoyance, 'these beings weren't even a challenge.' Turning his attention to the door, the Jiralhanae tried bashing it open with his fists. Other than a few minor dents the door remained firmly attached to the hinges. Jeremiao growled, activating his last plasma grenade, he attached it to the door and ran for cover. After three seconds of silence the plasma grenade whined and exploded, blasting the door into smithereens.

Smirking, Jeremiao still blended in to his surroundings, charged inside his plasma rifle whining as it fired.

. . .

Doctor Amos grabbed his sidearm, firing off three rounds at the aliens. Three seconds later, he ducked behind the crate he was hiding behind to avoid losing his head. His mind was spinning, 'aliens? That just wasn't possible!' His thoughts were interrupted as the soldier besides him fell with a flaming hole in his chest. Amos emptied his magazine and grabbed his belt to draw the spare one he always carried in case. Reloading, he noticed one of the alien's body turn intangible. As he watched, the thing's shadow jogged around the side. Curiosity overcoming common sense Amos followed.

He reached the edge and hid behind several fuel drums just as a second explosion rocked the barracks. Amos winced, his teeth chattering in fear. Counting to three he stood and emerged from his hiding place, pistol sweeping for the alien. Instead he found two dead guards and a hole in the wall that used to be a door. Keeping one hand on his gun, Amos grabbed his long distance radio which he used to communicate with Captain Ramirez and the security staff. He issued orders that were transmitted over every loudspeaker the base had on full volume.

"All units be advised we have an armed hostile inside the base! Code Red. I repeat; Code Red! Fall back to barracks we need to protect the mainframe! The information on it is critical! Any hostile you encounter kill on sight!"

. . .

Ramirez heard Doctor Amos voice and snarled in anger. What was there to protect here anyway? Ramirez and his remaining squad mates Rihanna, Conway and Edward had been going to flank the ugly sons of bitches from the side by circling the base and cutting through the razor wire fence with wire cutters when they all heard the broadcast. Being stationed outside the base had spared most of them from the initial assault. Ramirez turned to his soldiers and saw they were all annoyed as hell. "Bullshit! They never even told us what's so important in there!" Rihanna shouted, punching the ground.

"Orders are orders Rihanna, we're going back inside the base and kill any hostiles we find on sight. Edward hurry up!" Ramirez ordered. Edward nodded and began cutting through the wires even faster. His three comrades covered him, their M24 assault rifles sweeping the forests for hostiles. After nearly a full minute, Edward had cut a hole large enough for the four of them to squeeze through. He waddled past the hole, standing and drawing his rifle. Ramirez, Conway and Rihanna followed suit, taking another twenty seconds for the team to make it through. The four men team advanced through bushes, knees bent to avoid detection. Walking thirty metres through the undergrowth the men and woman came into sight of the battle.

It wasn't looking good.

Until as of now the team had wondered why no one else other than themselves had responded to Amos; the soldiers were doing what they could to repel the attack but were having limited success. Despite their heavy causalities they still outnumbered the Jiralhanae pack. Roughly thirty humans, both science and military personal most of whom were injured had been boxed against the wall with little cover and nowhere to go. The brutes had them trapped. They were putting up a good fight for even some of the scientists were attempting to take up arms. One part of Ramirez's brain screamed at him to help them out while the other reminded him in a commanding voice that orders were orders.

With much difficulty, Ramirez and his team tore their eyes and weapons from the battle, slipping away into the shadows.

. . .

Amos curiously advanced through the hole that used to be a door frame, his gun sweeping both left and right. Multiple fires and piles of rubble and debris littered the corridor. So many that Amos would have trouble avoiding them. Silently he advanced up the metal stars and reached the second level. From here he had a clear view of the lower level. Red lights flashed brightly and without sound. There was no sign of the alien. Amos remembered that it could somehow camouflage itself and that made him even more nervous. He couldn't afford to wait for back up, the risk was too great. So it was up to him to stop it. Amos didn't exactly like his chances at all. 'Maybe I can turn the tides on this ugly bitch.' Amos considered. His pistol wasn't the only weapon he had at his disposal. He secretly kept a modified Uzi submachine gun in his office. However there was a problem; his office was on the first floor.

Amos slowly advanced, his polished leather shows tapping against the metal floor. Using the elevator was out of the opinion. Doubling back would take way too long. That left one other opinion to Amos and he didn't like it. Doubling back to the safety glass rails that kept prevented people falling over the edge, Amos holstered his gun and grabbed the rails with both hands. Pulling himself up, Amos leapt over the side and jumped.

Falling roughly six metres, Amos winced as his feet painfully made contact with the top of the vending machine that was a part of the leisure area that included three leather couches, a red rug and a pool table. The machine rattled loudly once and fell silent. Amos held his breath, praying that the alien didn't hear the noise. After roughly, ten seconds of silence, Amos sat down and climbed down. Once his shoes mad contact with the ground he drew his gun and continued onwards. Walking around the corner he discovered two bodies dressed in lab coats; one was a man with fat cheeks and long blonde hair while the woman was of Asian descent with her hair tied into a ponytail which had come loose. He recognised them both as co workers; Doctor Samuel Clark and Doctor Laurie Young. Both had been members of the programs like him.

Their postures suggested they had been on their knees when they had been shot, the clothes, skin and flesh on their unprotected backs burnt and melted. Remembering his objective, Amos focused. His office was down the corridor exactly two hundred metres in front of him. He was almost here.

. . .

Jeremiao's patience was starting to run thin. After almost five minutes of prowling through rooms and breaking down doors he hadn't found anything of significance. Any other time he would have enjoyed exploring the structure at his own leisure. Now was not the time; he had a mission to complete. Gortaurus expected succuss from Jeremiao and Jeremiao would not leave until he had what they had come all this way for.

The two little creatures he had finished interrogating a minute ago hadn't been of any use all at all. They had only squealed utter nonsense and wiggled in his grip as the Jiralhanae had slowly applied pressure to their necks. Jeremiao had taken relish in watching the pair scream and wail as the acid like plasma had slowly consumed their hides. Continuing onwards and breaking down door number twenty five, Jeremiao's noise was hit by the smell of faeces. Eyeing several white stalls with caution, he slowly advanced into the room, plasma rifle raised to shoot. As no sign of any useful information presented itself but the purpose of the room did. Growling in disgust, he turned to leave, pausing as his noise picked up the scent he had come to familiarise with those ugly, nearly hairless midgets. Following the smell, Jeremiao stopped briefly to fire his plasma rifle twice into the closed door of the nearest stall. A gurgling cry came from the stall, followed by a puddle of blood and something yellow from underneath the door.

Jeremiao left the room, trusting his noise to lead him to the other creature. Checking his weapon to see how much charge he had left; the screen read seventy nine per cent, the Jiralhanae deactivated his camouflage and continued onwards;

Towards Amos.

. . .

Outside the structure, Gortaurus and pack had just finished killing the last of the defenders. The pack had easily outmanoeuvred their opponents and boxed them against the wall with no cover. It had been a bloodbath. When only a dozen remained, the Jiralhanae had forsaken their guns and grabbed their personal weapons; maces, axes, swords, and hammers before charging in and butchering the last with great delight. None of the attackers had died and no injuries had been suffered thanks to their plasma shields.

Gortaurus considered calling Jeremiao for an update before choosing against. He still had plenty of stamina to last into the next day at this rate. Snapping his jaws at his pack, Gortaurus marched to the gigantic door that measured twenty feet high and fifty feet across. Grabbing his hammer, the chieftain bashed the doors open with two . . . no make that three whacks from his most treasured weapon. Slinging his hammer and drawing his carbine, Gortaurus walked inside followed by all but two of his pack. The two left behind began clearing bodies from the battlefield in preparation for extraction from the Phantom, ETA twelve minutes.

Gortaurus and his four comrade's eyes were briefly blinded by the powerful lights that hung from the ceiling. Once their means of seeing readjusted, the pack slowly spread through the hanger bay that measured fifty long, eighty metres across and sixty metres high. Mutable obstacles littered the area such as landing pads, vehicles painted multiple shades of green such as trucks and jeeps and dozens of barrels of that Gortaurus guessed from the smell to be oil were lined against both sides of the wall. The five Jiralhanae advanced towards the open door that Gortaurus decided would lead them to Jeremiao. They reached the door and exited the hanger bay, one at a time because they were too tall and wide to do otherwise, bending their heads to avoid banging their helmets on the frame accidently.

After a minute of exploring the structure, the pack had come across a locked room with dark, tinted windows so the Gortaurus couldn't see inside. He COULD however hear the panicked shouts of half a dozen or so voices from behind the door. Gesturing to one of his men, said Jiralhanae grabbed a purple coloured ball from his belt, activated it and stuck it on the door. The plasma grenade began to glow and count down from three.

The pack levelled their weapons until they were pointed directly at the door.

. . .

Cole Bailey was a short, young man with rather long wild hair that needed often needed to be tamed. Not this time however for sweating profusely the last twenty minutes had made his hair stick to his forehead. The others hadn't faring much better either to be honest. He was terrified and was struggling to remain calm and not run around screaming like a child who's been told that Santa isn't real. When the first explosions had had occurred, Bailey and five other scientists had watched from the third floor window in a mixture of fascination and horror as the eight foot tall aliens landed on the ground and began wreaking live chaos on the security teams. The six had fled to the control room and barricaded themselves inside grabbing what weapons they could found beforehand which weren't going to be much help at all. Their inventorial consisted of two tiny revolvers and three meat cleavers. One man (whom Bailey considered a lazy arse) had to the others astonishment actually taken upon a plastic butter knife. How stupid could one be?

They had desperately tried to make contact with security so to receive static. They then tried to send a transmission to a nearby marine unit posted ten miles south with no luck whatsoever. Mister butter knife had just barley a minute ago tried to call 911 on his mobile which Bailey couldn't have helped but notice the phone was pink and had mutable stickers of the cartoon cat 'Hello kitty' stuck on the back. When noises could be heard right outside and the door handle was halfway turned before the lock prevented it from completing the full turn the scientists began to scream and panic. Bailey however managed to kill it together and a crazy idea began to form in his head. Any other time he would've suggested the one who came up with it to be locked away from society in the loony bin, under intense medication.

'Screw it' he thought. 'If I'm going to die I'll make sure to take down those brutes to hell with me.'

Unnoticed by the others, he got down on his knees and began fiddling with several wires connecting the main terminal to the base's computer grid underneath the table. After several seconds, he finished and grabbed a nearby bag. Shoving it besides the terminal, he pulled something from the bag and pocketed it.

Just as Bailey added the finishing touches the door blew inwards, taking most of the wall down as well! Bailey had only just started to stand when the aliens stormed into the room, their weapons firing red and purples lights of energy that Bailey had decided to be some kind of concentrated laser beam. At any other time Bailey would have taken the time to appreciate that something could be so stunning and at the same time capable of taking life. Two of his colleges fell under the barrage, their bodies dancing and falling as they were pelted with the lights. One scientist took cover behind the control table, firing his revolver as he did so, believing the overturned table would provide him with protection. How wrong he was.

One of the aliens simply shrugged off the three bullets fired thanks to its shields, raised its rifle and fired through the table.

The man was blasted backwards, his back slamming against the wall. He slowly slid down, leaving half of his blood on the wall. By then four aliens had managed to squeeze into the room. How something that big managed to fit through the doorframe so quickly bewildered Bailey. Not that he cared. The two remaining scientists other than himself Susan and Koloa had managed to find cover that was actually saving their lives, one firing the last revolver desperately. Bailey ducked behind the console for cover when a red bolt almost blew his head off. More shots followed the first, splashing against the console and dissolving the reinforced metal. Bailey flinched. Koloa suddenly took a hit from a purple beam, driving point home into his shoulder and out the other side, followed by a shower of blood. He fell onto his back, hands clasped around his bleeding shoulder. He spluttered and gagged as he writhed back and forth, coughing up blood.

Bailey forced himself to look away from the gruesome sight and focused his attention on the gun that Koloa had dropped on the ground. Something to fight back with. The aliens had just stopped firing, having captured Susan and were checking the other corpses for survivors. He could make it. He jumped from his hiding place and made a dash for the gun. Ignoring Susan's panicked screams and the alien's surprised voices, he forced himself to run even faster. He was ten metres away and adrenalin fuelling his speed. He dived, slid the remaining distance, felt his hand brush against the gun and snatched it. He turned and at the nearest brute who was also aiming its rifle at him. They both fired at the exact same time; the tiny bullet bouncing off the alien's armour and impeding itself into a wall.

A bolt of plasma knocked Bailey back down.

Bailey felt his head hit the floor, the edges of his vision beginning to darken. He felt his stomach with his hand before looking at it. It was covered in blood. His blood. Strangely enough it didn't hurt. Not at all. 'That is weird' Bailey thought, his mind groggily. 'It doesn't hurt but it should be. Shouldn't it?' Bailey's thoughts were interrupted as a pair of aliens roughly grabbed him by his arms and dragged him across the room where they without much care dropped him besides the unconscious Koloa who was lying in a flowing pool of his own blood.

Susan gave off a cry of anguish as she saw her injured friends. She tired to crawl towards only to receive a bone breaking kick to the stomach, courtesy of the almost nine foot tall alien standing over her. Before Bailey could respond the same one that attacked Susan lifted its boot and brought it down on her head. Susan screamed once and stopped.

There was silence in the room.

Bailey gave a shout of rage and tried to stand back up only to fall back down when another alien pushed him back down and planted its foot on his stomach and pressed.

Okay. Now he could feel pain. And it hurt.

. . .

Doctor Amos was pulling out his drawers and leaving them on floor, papers sticking from everywhere. Completely ignorant of both the mess and noise he was making, he continued his search, grabbing his shelf and flinging it to the ground, spill books and cardboard boxes everywhere. Now that made a lot of noise. Not that Amos noticed. He couldn't remember where he left the fricking Uzi! Something made him pause. He could hear something. It was just right outside his office.

Footsteps. Getting closer.

Amos cursed and dragged his shelf across the floor until it lay between him and the door which he noticed he had left open. Hopefully it would provide him some protection should the alien gain entrance. Amos ran over to the door and closed it, locking it as he did so. That being done, Amos grabbed his wooden chair from underneath his wooden work table. Running back to the closed door, he shoved the chair underneath the door's handle. It wasn't much but it would buy him the time he needed to pull off what he was planning;

Deleting the entire contents of his computer.

It had everything on it. Secrets keep hidden from the public by the government. Secret military programs that not even THE CIA and the president knew of. If these things got their hands on this information. . aah he didn't even want to think of it! There were two programs in particular that Amos' mind drifted to as he thought it over. The first one had been the fourth and final of a series of projects that had existed from the year 2000 to 2010. During a media frenzy the four programs had been shut down and its asserts were either arrested or terminated. Unknown to most but a select few the fourth program had started up again barley four years ago. The other one had been public at the time of its creation, but had been shut down as well. Just like the other, it had been started up again in secret. Both projects were if things went according to plan would make the United States of America the strongest nation the world had ever seen. Both of the projects Amos had knowledge of due to his involvement in the creation of both.

Typing his username and password into his computer, Amos waited as patiently as he could for the computer to confirm his identity. As soon as it allowed him access, Amos went onto files and highlighted them all for deletion. Over fifty files. Shit! He needed more time to get rid of them! He could hear them outside, trying to open the door. Damn it! Quickly he cancelled the highlighted files and reselected only two of them and pressed delete. As the files eased themselves from the software, the door was blasted down, shrapnel and fire going everywhere. Amos grabbed his Uzi, pointing the muzzle at the open door waiting for the first alien to appear. Shadows appeared from amongst the smoke and Amos' trigger finger began to tighten . . .

"Hold your fire! US army coming in! Hold your fire!"

"Ramirez?"

Ramirez and three of his squad mates barged in, banishing their weapons. Amos hastily lowered his gun, feeling slightly foolish for almost shooting them. The four troopers quickly sweep the room for hostiles. When it became clear Amos was the only one in the room, Ramirez lowered his rifle, the others following suit. As Ramirez advanced closer, Amos noticed they were all covered in dirt and mud. He decided not to inquire.

"Hey Doc are you alright?" When Amos did not answer, Ramirez grabbed the scientist roughly by the shoulders and shook him and repeated his question.

"Yeah I'm fine! Get the hell off me!" Amos snapped, his temper flaring. "Where have you been?"

"Trying to find you that's what." Ramirez replied, releasing Amos. The soldier was pissed. He been forced under orders to NOT help his troops and crawl through a ditch. Just so Amos could be protected and some stupid secrets wouldn't be leaked! Amos could understand why he was angry, but these secrets were more important. Rihanna was glaring at with barley hidden disgust. Conway and Edward were covering the door with their guns, one soldier standing on either side of the doorway. Amos couldn't see their faces, but could they weren't happy with him at all. Not that Amos could blame them.

"We need to get out of here now! Those things are inside." Rihanna spoke, gripping her rifle. "We came to save your fat, hairy arse. We're leaving with or without you! Your choice."

Amos began to protest but a death glare from the woman quickly shut him up. He sighed and asked, "what's the plan?"

Ramirez managed to calm down and answered:

"We think there might be an intact Humvee in the hanger bay. We'll hot wire it and get the hell out. We'll find someone with a phone and radio in for support. The Air Force will fry them and this place to hell! Alright we're moving out; Conway with me, Rihanna and Edward watch our backs."

The four soldiers piled out, leaving Amos standing there in the room by himself. Shaking his head, he followed. Inside the office on the computer screen, a message box flashed up.

Deletion of the following files completed:

Operation TALOS liquid armour

Beta stage three program code name LARX

. . .

The ugly ape had left Bailey lying in the corner, spitting up his blood. They hadn't bothered to handcuff him or treat his injuries. They obviously weren't planning to keep him as a prisoner or whatever it was they did to people they captured when fighting. The others had left already, properly going to check for other survivors. Not that it mattered. What did matter to Bailey that the alien left to watch him was typing into the console, supposably trying to hack into the mainframe.

Bailey was not going to let that happen.

. . .

Mohawk smirked. This would be easy. Grabbing a data stick from his pack, he plugged it into the terminal, glad that it could fit. The techs had provided the entire team with one each. It was designed to hack through firewalls, no matter how what kind of defences it might have. Once in, the device (Mohawk hadn't bothered to remember what it was called) would absorb all information it could find in matter of minutes. The information would help them understand these new species and how their military operated. Not that Mohawk they needed it. A loud blaring emerged from the console, the screen flashing red.

That was not supposed to happen.

A picture of some kind of furry animal appeared on the screen, Mohawk assuming it was native to this world. It was fat with short ears, a large snout and rather large front teeth. Suddenly, loud music blared from speakers mounted on the console.

"Alright everybody now here we go.  
It's a brand new version of the dosido.  
Just stomp your feet and clap your hands.  
Come on everybody its the hamster dance.  
Bounce in time to the beat.  
You don't even have to move your feet.  
Just shake your thang; let me see you move.  
Now spin it around and feel the groove.

YEEHAA!"

Mohawk stepped back, confused.

"What the f . . . "

The console blew up.

The explosion blew the Jiralhanae away, his shields blaring purple as they absorbed the attack. Mohawk felt his body hit the floor hard, his shields flittering weakly before dying, unable to take that much punishment. The fire surged forward and engulfed him in flames. Mohawk screamed as his armour blackened from the heat and his skin blistered. He was on fire. The Jiralhanae struggled to stand up, his fur alight. Mohawk staggered back and forth, his hands grabbing at himself. The pain became too much for him to handle and finally Mohawk died as the fire consumed his being.  
. . .

Despite his injury, Bailey was smiling from where he still lay on the floor, a pool of blood forming around him. Modifying the consoles antivirus software to block and short out any hacks back when the base was being built hadn't been his idea. The entire 'mocking the hacker by playing the Hamster Dance on the screen' HAD been his idea. Not very creative but others had found it funny, some even going as far to deliberately type in a wrong password so they could hear it. Also the other quickly planned idea of hiding an entire bag of C4 explosives and detonating them remotely via a detonator had been his idea as well. It had worked rather well as evidenced by the dead still on fire alien lying on the floor in the corner.

Bailey tenderly touched his stomach and winched. His injury was without a doubt life threatening and would be his undoing unless he medical treatment. 'Not that it mattered' Bailey thought, wincing. 'Soon one of those aliens will come back to see what happened and kill me for blowing up their friend. 'Bailey closed his eyes and waited the inevitable. As he waited, Bailey couldn't help but think the same thought over in his mind again and again. 'I killed an alien. An actually bloody eight foot tall alien that trained soldiers couldn't touch, let alone kill. But I did; a guy who's only been to a firing range and fired a gun twice.'

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. Sighing he prepared himself for what was coming . . .

"Bailey are you alright?"

Bailey turned and looked at the figures standing over him in shock, his eyes focusing on one person in particular.

"Amos?"

Voices began to converge on him. That was all Bailey remembered when he passed out.

. . .

"How are they?" Amos inquired as Conway finished wrapping bandages around the unconscious man's stomach. Rihanna was treating the now conscious Koloa by attempting to stop the bleeding from his shoulder. Ramirez was examining the alien corpse and its weaponry, (after extinguishing the flames with a fire extinguisher) gently prodding it with his boot while Edward was guarding the door, his M24 rifle pointed at where the door used to be hanging before it was blown off its hinges. Amos was currently leaning over Bailey and Koloa, one hand on his knee the other holding his Uzi submachine gun.

"Both are in pretty bad shape. Bailey was shot by one of their lasers in the stomach. He's already lost a lot of blood. I'm surprised he's still breathing to be honest." Conway answered, tightening the bandages so they wouldn't come loose. "We need to get him proper treatment soon or he's in trouble."

"I'm surprised he actually managed to kill this thing" Ramirez commented, going through the ape like creature's belongings. He pulled a cord from its neck. Hanging from the necklace were what looked like actually teeth. Pocketing that, he moved on to its weapon and began to examining it.

"Koloa over here isn't any better. The shot went through his shoulder and grazed his lung. He's bleeding from his mouth as well as the shoulder wound. He needs help too." This time it was Rihanna who spoke.

"How much longer do you need to patch them both up?" asked Ramirez frowning, holding the alien gun in both hands while his own M24 was slung around his shoulder hanging from the strap. They didn't have much time before the rest of those aliens found them. They wouldn't last a single firefight, especially with two wounded. "Give me an estimate."

"About five minutes sir."

"Make it three."

"Yes sir."

Ramirez nodded. It would take them at least ninety seconds to reach the vehicle bay from the control room. They only had to meet one alien on their way there and they were all fucked. From Ramirez's count, there were at least seven other angry, bloodthirsty aliens wondering the base with their deadly laser guns and stupid shields. Properly more of them were waiting in the forests as backup. There were only seven of them, three civilians with little to no training of any sort, two of whom were seriously injured in danger of dying. Their chances were very low.

Ramirez sighed as he carefully examined the alien rifle. He set the weapon against the wall, the muzzle pointing upwards. He removed his helmet and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. He still couldn't grasp the idea that aliens actually existed. ALIENS! That resembled eight foot tall gorillas with shaved heads and different coloured sets of armour and helmets. The fact they were real was mind blowing. They had killed his friends. Most of the soldiers under his command were dead except for Rihanna, Conway and Edward. He would never see them again. One third of them were under twenty years of age while another third of them had children. The mere thought of all the death was sickening to him.

He groaned. Even after spending almost twelve years of service since he was twenty four, he still struggled with the sadness and the suffering. Why he did what he did was because he wanted to help make a difference in the world so he would press forward no matter what and never show any weakness. Something he always made sure his two children understood.

"Ramirez, we're good to go."

"Alright then let's go. Edward with me, Rihanna and Conway watch our backs. Amos, you carry Bailey and Koloa stay in-between us. Let's move out.

. . .

On the oppisote side of the structure Gortaurus, Urglo, Stomplaw and Hlogortus had just finished adding the rest of the charges to the satellite dishes when they heard an explosion. The pack jumped at the unexpected noise, some almost dropping a crate of the stuff.

"What was that?" asked Hlogortus, frowning. It was too large to have come from one of their explosive round weapons. "Should we investigate?"

Gortaurus nodded. They could not afford to make mistakes. "Yes we shall. Hlogortus follow me. The rest of you finish arming the explosives and wait then wait at outside for the Phantom."

"Yes Fleetmaster we shall finish this work at once." Urglo and Stomplaw bowed their heads to the chieftain as a sign of respect. "We will see you in a few minutes."

The two apes returned to work but Gortaurus' voice stopped them

"And find out what is taking Jeremiao so damn long!"

. . .

Jeremiao smirked as his virus raked the Doctor Amos' computers software mercilessly for what he had come for. The computer's antivirus software was pathetic, not even a minor nuisance. His device was easily sucking hundreds of files a minute into itself, safely stored until it came time for the techs back at the fleet to examine it. A circular device on his arm beeped and a voice produced from it.

"Jeremiao this is Stomplaw. What's your situation?"

Jeremiao could not help but feel offended. Did not Gortaurus have any faith in his abilities at all. He snorted and rolled his eyes. No properly not. He tapped the device with his finger and answered the call.

"I've managed to hack into one of their computers and am extracting as much information as I can. There is a shipload of stuff on this device. We will have the advantage when we wage war on these humans."

"I'm sorry? You said the word 'humans' said Stomplaw, not quite understanding the meaning of the word. 'What was a hue man?'

"Humans are what these new creatures call themselves." Jeremiao explained to his long time comrade. They have been calling themselves this name for thousands of years. I'm almost finished here."

. . .

The survivors stumbled as they made their way into the hanger bay. Ramirez quickly spotted a pair of Humvees parked in the corner, one armed with a minigun. Ramirez grinned. The extra firepower would help. The group headed towards the vehicles except for Edward who ran over the other side of the hanger to grab the keys needed to operate the Humvees. Ramirez herded the others into the two vehicles; Rihanna, Bailey, and Conway in the first one with Rihanna driving, Bailey lying down in the back while Conway climbed through the hole in the roof and chambered the first round into the minigun. Meanwhile, Amos, Koloa and Ramirez jumped into the one behind the first, Ramirez grabbing the steering wheel. Edward rifle shattered the glass of the cabinet that held the keys and grabbed the pair needed.

Edward began to run back to the others. He had just reached half way when the door opened and two of the ape like aliens barged in, weapons raised to fire. Edward's eyes widened. He threw the keys at the Humvees where they were caught by Ramirez. The aliens noticed Edward and fired, bolts of plasma penetrating his torso and head. Rihanna screamed his name. Edward dropped without a sound. Conway opened fired, firing dozens of bullets at his friend's killers. One fell, its shields unable to take that many hits. Conway redirected his aim, but the other had already retreated back inside into the building.

Ramirez cold turned cold. Ignoring the others, he ran towards Edward's body. Grabbing it, he slung him over his shoulder. Carefully, he placed Edward's body in the back seat of the second Humvee. Ramirez wanted revenge but knew that better than that. He climbed into the driver's seat, closing the door, behind him. He started up the engine and drove forward, following Rihanna's Humvee. The two Humvees drove outside the hanger, passing the main building as they did so. When they reached the gate, Rihanna simply accelerated and tore the gate in half.

One thing was clear now;

They were at war.

. . .

Date: April 3rd , 2018 3:12 AM

Location: CAS class assault carrier _EXECUTION OF THE DISOBEDIENT, _bridge.

Gortaurus had lost two fellow warriors in the attack. Normally he would have not cared very much, but these two had been his friends. Friends he had known since he had been a child. He growled in anger at the thought of his dead friends. The bodies had been retrieved and the remaining members of the strike team had finished planting and bombs and retreated to Phantom. They had watched in silence as the three satellite blew apart, pillars of fire consuming them a second before they broke apart. The mission had been a complete success. They knew the name of their new enemy, how many there were and where their cities were located. They knew what kind of technology they used and how their society worked. They had all they needed to mount an invasion.

Time to start.

**Hey everyone thanks for reading this chapter. Please review cause it makes me write heaps faster. Review or alas thy shall face my wraith! Kidding! Next chapter won't be out for a while cause I need to study for the HSC. **


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